Plans involve a residential and light manufacturing complex, near Dufferin and Queen St. W.

Janak K. Khendry is the artistic director of a dance studio in a warehouse that will eventually be redeveloped. (JULIEN GIGNAC / TORONTO STAR) | ORDER THIS PHOTO

Three artists sit around a table, reminiscing over photographs of a Toronto warehouse, a rugged space that’s been home to artisans for decades. Looming over the discussion is the property’s imminent redevelopment.

Peter MacCallum, Karl Schantz and Alfred Engerer each balk at an arrangement between the city and a residential developer that will eventually lead to the demolition of the warehouse, located near Dufferin and Queen Sts.

MacCallum and Schantz have studios elsewhere in the city, but have turned up to weigh in on the discussion, which revolves around city decisions that threaten artistic environments.

“My thing is about preserving this building,” said Alfred Engerer, who is the building’s superintendent. “I love this building. I don’t want it to go. Their intent is to fully destroy it and replace it with condominiums.”

The plan for the site was given the green light by the city after a settlement was reached with the developer in 2015 to incorporate work spaces for artisans into a predominately residential design.

Alfred Engerer, artist and superintendent, opens a door to a studio belonging to a number of wood workers.

Engerer said the issue is yet another example of displacing artists to make way for gentrification.

Editors Notes: A city needs to be diverse, in employment, spaces, and people. At the moment intensification is transforming a vibrant place into a mono-culture.